Shriners get together in Sun City

Courtesy of James Peppers Jim and Lucille Peppers are long-time members of the Masons and Eastern Star. They have been gathering Sun City Shriners to join them in supporting the Savannah Alee Temple's efforts for children's hospitals.

Courtesy of James Peppers Sun City resident James Peppers is a member of the Pirate arm of the Savannah Alee Shriner's Temple, an organization that supports children's hospitals all over the United States.

Jim Peppers is a pirate. No, not the Pittsburgh kind, or the out-to-sea running amok kind. Peppers is a Shriners pirate — a fun-loving philanthropist dedicated to helping get children to places where they can get the medical help they need.

Many people are familiar Shriners Clowns in their little toy cars rolling along parade routes yet the Shriners have many other entertaining groups, including Keystone Kops, a Hillbilly Unit, Dune Cats and an Oriental Band. They all have the same goal of drawing attention to their mission of supporting 22 Shriners Hospitals for Children across the country and to raise money to help patients who cannot afford the treatment for severe burns, orthopaedic and neuromusculoskeletal conditions and cleft palates.

The Alee Temple in Savannah, to which Peppers and his wife Lucille belong, have a group of pirates that appear in public complete with a pirate ship — most recently seen at the Bluffton Christmas parade. The Peppers moved to Sun City five years ago and two years ago joined the temple. Since then, they have met several other Shriner couples. Together they decided to form a loosely-knit social group while continuing their membership in either the local temple or their home organization.

In the process, some like Peppers have also stepped up to support local families in need of medical attention. Peppers has taken occasional trips to the Shriners Hospital for Children in Tampa transporting patients and their guardians. Alee has two full-sized vans with electric wheelchair lifts for just this purpose.

"I'm a road runner," said Peppers, who has made five trips. "I pick up the van at the temple in Savannah and then pick up the family. If they have no transportation or it isn't good enough to make it, we take them."

Peppers one of hundreds of road runners who perform this sort of service for the Tampa hospital. Multiply that by 22 and thousands of volunteers are making a difference in children’s lives.

“Our volunteer drivers are invaluable to our missions because of the families that rely on them for transportation to receive the expert care we provide. Thousands of kids get delivered to us by our volunteer drivers,” said Beth Anne Demas, RN, Director of Public Relations, Marketing and Outreach for Shriners Hospitals for Children. “Many of our families develop a great relationship with these committed Shriners as they travel on their trips to the hospital. Some of our drivers who have moved around have done this in other places and these are some very dedicated individuals.”

The treatment is provided regardless of the family’s ability to pay, Demas said, and support is not limited to the Shriners.

“There is not a monopoly on helping this mission. If you want to stay a Mason and help or not even be a Mason, that’s fine,” said Demas. “Everyone can be a part of this. It needs everyone.”

The eight couples making up the group so far aren't in a rush to create anything more formal along Sun City's charter group lines. They just want to get together socially with other Shriners and do what they have always done — contribute to others' well-being.

"The only reason the Shriners exist is to support the hospitals," Peppers said. "But while you're a Shriner, you can have a heck of a good time in parades and fundraising."

You don’t have to be a big-name star like Justin Timberlake and sponsor a PGA Tour event to make an impact supporting Shriners Hospitals for Children. You can be Sun City residents like Jim and Lucille Peppers.

For more information about meeting Sun City Shriners, call Jim Peppers at 705-9852. For more information about Shriners Hospitals for Children, who they help and how you can help, go to www.shrinershospitalsforchildren.org.

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